


Stormfront

by demisms



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-26
Updated: 2012-05-26
Packaged: 2017-11-06 01:16:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/413108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demisms/pseuds/demisms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>The ship brushes against the rocks. Or rather, crashes. Eyes as blue as the calm sea had been widened and, unconsciously Robert leans over the edge of the tower, mouth parted and breath heavy; he looks ready to scream, cry, and declare war on the world all at once as the truth of what he has seen sets in. Stannis...just screams.</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>-</p><p>written for the asoiaf kink meme<br/>prompt: robert, stannis, and renly - the boys watch as the sea claims their parents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stormfront

**Author's Note:**

> The idea was inspired by a lovely roleplay-style scene two of my friends did, and while I tried not to copy anything my story was very influenced by that. So, Trek, Kalan. If you're reading this, you're so inspiring and I adore you both~!

They hear tell of their parents impending return from one of the house guards. Who it was at the time was not important, nor was the face or name remembered when Robert burst into the library to find Stannis busy with quill and ink. He paid no mind to whatever parchment he ruined as his haste to jerk his little brother from the table upset the ink well. The thinner boy scowled hotly, like he always did, and was about to open his mouth in a sharp reprimand that Robert wouldn't listen to anyway when the words that the oldest boy had said set in.

_Mother and Father are coming home._

Renly is a babe in the nursery, chewing idly on a wooden ring as his teeth began to emerge from pink gums. He is a fair child, hardly ever crying except when it came to bedtime, and gurgled happily at his older brothers when they burst in through the door, Robert bowling ahead like a battling ram and Stannis following. The nurse squeaks and begins to tell them off, saying that a baby's bedroom is no place for horseplay and that they'll upset him. And true enough, often times Robert plays a little rough with the youngest Baratheon and Stannis' idea of play is making the tot listen to the long lists he made in ledgers, but today they just swarmed to him - ignoring the woman and her protests - and picked him up.

Renly is a babe, but they think he understands them well enough when they tell him the news.

_Home, home - they're coming home._

Robert takes the steps to the highest parapet two at a time. Stannis follows behind, holding Renly tight to him as if he fears slipping and sending them both cascading down the spiraled stone steps. Late summer in Storm's End is a thing to behold, all warm rays of sun and salt in the air, and the day is clear save for a few lazy clouds hanging low over the horizon. It is a day made even more beautiful by the knowledge that their parents were to be returning today, would be sailing into Shipbreaker Bay any hour now and the Lord and Lady Baratheon would greet their sons with presents, stories, and kisses. 

The three of them reach the topmost parapet that looks out the bay in record time, and it is Stannis who spots the mast of the ship out on the horizon. The wind is sharp and cold up this high, bites at their exposed faces and Renly begins to whine. But it is of no matter, between the steady waves slapping the rocks of the reef below and the wind, the ship makes record time and sooner rather than later, Robert is proclaiming that he can see the sigil on the sails.

_They're coming home!_

Briefly, Stannis looses an arm around his baby brother and raises it to wave, but thinks himself foolish moments later; there is no way they could see him from that far out, but for once Robert doesn't berate his stupidity. And very well so, because that is when the first droplets begin to fall.

It is a storm within minutes; not uncommon about the great keep, but dangerous. Deadly; the boys are never allowed out on the water, even at the brink of manhood for both of them. And being boys they had complained, fussed as Renly did lightly now that fat droplets began falling on his face. Stannis was about to suggest that they go in, wait in the solar where their father would come instantly, or else in the great entry hall, he knew Robert would probably not hear him out but figured he might as well try; it isn't until sight of the ship veering, steering far off course catches his attention that the words die in his throat.

_Mother and father are -_

The ship brushes against the rocks. Or rather, crashes. Eyes as blue as the calm sea had been widened and, unconsciously Robert leans over the edge of the tower, mouth parted and breath heavy; he looks ready to scream, cry, and declare war on the world all at once as the truth of what he has seen sets in. Stannis...just screams.

Screams, curses, denies; his grip tightens around Renly until the baby is screaming as well, though his high pitched wails are laced with confusion and pain. 

No tears come. Robert finds his hands on his younger brothers shoulders and he shakes them both, but there's no quieting the agonized screams. The rain continues, thunder claps and at some moment between the first crunch of wood against rock and the final image of the mast dissapearing into the water in a wake of crushed wood and floating wreckage, Stannis gives up his gods. He loosens his grip on Renly and allows the babe to slip to the stone floor, where he sits and wails out of a loss he doesn't fully understand.

None of them move. They remain rooted there, feet on stone and staring out at the sea. When Renly crawls to his leg, Stannis barely registers the fat baby arms encircling his calf, and Robert begins to punch the stone, paying no heed to the hot tears that threaten to fall - and finally do. Somehow that makes it all the worse. He's not ready to be a lord. 

_Mother and father are home..._

Suddenly the day feels bitingly cold.


End file.
